Methodist Church

The Methodist Church, originally known as Wardle Methodist Church, is a Wesleyan Chapel built in 1874. It features rock-faced stone with ashlar dressings and a slate roof, designed in the Italian Renaissance style with a classic chapel plan. The building has four bays and two storeys, highlighted by a pedimented gable and a portico. The stone plinth, banding, and giant rusticated pilasters add to its grandeur. The portico is supported by three pairs of coupled Tuscan columns, topped with an entablature and a parapet. On either side of the portico, there are semi-circular headed windows with bracketed sills, lugged architraves, and entablatures. Above the portico, three linked windows and one on either side at the first floor level feature semi-circular heads, keystones, and pilasters. The gable pediment includes a central semi-circular opening with a foliated surround. All windows are fitted with marginal glazing bars, including the more simply designed six-bay side elevations. Inside, the former gallery wraps around each end and is supported by Corinthian cast iron columns; it previously housed an organ on the fourth side but has since been floored over to create a first-floor hall.